• • • •

Faith frowned as April raised the two dresses in her hands up. One was red and the other blue. It was the annual Miss Mystic Falls pageant. She loathed the day.

"So which one?" April asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Whatever you want. You're the one in the pageant, not me."

"But you were runner up for Miss Mystic Falls," April insisted.

"Yeah, runner up," Faith stood up from the small couch in the room. "I didn't win, my mother made sure to remind me."

"I'm sorry," April suddenly said, confusing the siphoner. "I didn't know this was a bad day for you."

Faith raised an eyebrow in surprise before smiling at the girl. "I can see why Rebekah likes you. You're pretty decent. Innocent."

"You're acting like you're not," April shrugged.

"Have you ever had sex?" Faith asked, amusingly. "I'm sure you've drunk since you're friends with Rebekah, but have you gotten high? Skipped school?"

When the girl stayed silent, Faith grinned. "Relax, you're only what? Sixteen, you'll live."

"You're a year older than me," April deadpanned, correcting her.

Faith only shrugged before she left the room to find some champagne.

Faith wore a silk v-neck coral skater dress that was backless and thin straps that hid underneath her raven hair. Her black heeled sandals tapped against the tiled floor of the Lockwood mansion before she made it to the back where all the decorations were being put.

Faith smiled at the busboy as she took two glasses of champagne. She was drinking one of them when she heard a familiar voice from behind her. "Didn't think you would still be here, Faith."

"Well, I haven't found Rebekah, and Klaus wouldn't tell me," Faith turned around to see Tyler with the werewolf she almost killed. She raised an eyebrow at their hand-holding. "I thought the three of you were only faking it? Or is it real?"

She rolled her eyes at Tyler's wide eyes. "Don't look so shocked. I only know about the faking, though I don't know why and I don't practically care."

"How did you manage to date the big bad hybrid?" Hayley questioned the siphoner. "And how are you still alive even after breaking up? Or are you that good at sex?"

"I don't know," Faith smirked at the werewolf, causing her smirk to falter. "You can ask Tyler. We had plenty of sex back in sophomore year. Or maybe Jeremy, you know Elena's brother, or maybe my one night stands."

She stepped forward, threatening at the werewolf. "You can't slut-shame me, skank. You make it seem like having sex is such a sin when it's none of your business. You might not understand why I love Klaus, but I don't have to explain it to you. At least I'm not the one destroying other couple's relationships."

"You better know you're fucking place," Faith threatened, causing her English accent to thicken. "Because I won't hesitate to fucking kill you. I don't have to be a vampire or hybrid to know how to kill you. Normal people do it all the time."

She drank the other glass of champagne before leaving the hybrid and werewolf.

• • • •

"Whatever, just hurry up and find the cure," Caroline told Klaus as they walked next to the pond. She glanced a few feet away from them. Faith was sitting by herself on a stone bench as she stared at the pond. "So when are you going to apologize to Faith for whatever you did?"

"What makes you think it was me in the wrong?" Klaus asked, offended.

"You might not know this, Klaus," Caroline crossed her arms and looked at the hybrid. "But Faith used to be friends with us. Bonnie, Elena, Faith, and I were best friends. As much as everything has changed, one thing I know about Faith is she knows when she's wrong. She wouldn't say anything bad to you unless you've provoked her."

Klaus glanced at Faith from behind Caroline. He knew she was right. If Faith had said something bad to him, she would have apologized a million times. Her loyalty to her loved ones was something he admired about her.

Caroline smiled, knowing he was going to talk to her before she left the hybrid.

Faith glanced to see Klaus sitting down next to her. She went back to looking at the pond in front of her. Faith knew she was probably being stubborn, but he had to talk to her first if he wanted her to look at him.

"I'm sorry," Klaus whispered. Faith turned her attention at the hybrid, signaling him to continue. "I'm sorry for saying you know nothing about family. You've never used my faults against me and I shouldn't have used yours. Can you forgive me?"

Faith stayed silent as she thought it over. She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

A smile grew on her lips as the hybrid stilled. She turned to him with a mischievous grin as she looked at his expression. She let out a laugh as he didn't seem to know how to react.

"Faith," Klaus growled.

Immediately, Faith stood up and backed away with a teasing grin. "I'm kidding. Of course, I forgive you. Can't blame a girl for getting payback."

She let a short scream as Klaus rushed toward her. Her scream turned into a burst of small laughter when he picked her up from her waist. He looked up at her as she placed her hands on his shoulders for support. "Do you love me?"

She smiled, softly at him. "I've never stopped loving you," she said.

"Where did you go?" Klaus asked after setting her down on the grass.

"I went to visit my daughter," Faith said. "I...needed to calm myself after what happened. What happened while I was gone? April doesn't have any good information, but that professor guy is suspicious."

"There's a cure," Klaus admitted.

"What cure?" Faith asked.

"To vampirism."

• • • •

After Klaus had filled her in and the announcement of April being crowned Miss Mystic Falls, the hybrid had pulled her away from the crowd. "What is it?" Faith asked him.

"You asked me if I were to take the cure," Klaus started. "There are moments when I wanted to be human. Once, I was on a trek in the Andies, and a hummingbird flew up to me. It just hovered there, staring at me, its tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun. And I thought, what a thing, you know, to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive. To be constantly on the verge of death and how satisfying every day must be that it survived."

Faith smiled as he talked. When he met her eyes, he smiled back and held her hand as he pulled farther away. "If I didn't know better, I would've thought you were taking me somewhere to be killed," Faith told him.

His smile only grew before he stopped. He pulled her into his arms. Her face looked up at him from his chest as she had her arms wrapped around him. "That was the only time I thought about being human."

"Very poetic," Faith smiled.

"Have you ever thought of becoming a vampire?" Klaus asked.

Faith hummed as she thought it over. "Not really. To be clear, I never really cared about what I was or who I was going to be. I don't entirely hate the thought of being a vampire. I just never really thought about it."

"If you had the chance, would you?"

"I don't know," Faith said, truthfully. "I think it depends on what's happening at that moment. If the moment ever comes."

• • • •

Wow. I feel like Klaus was so OOC 😂😂

Some of y'all are real mad at me (probably)

But hear me out 🖐

Faith legit has never been in a healthy relationship. Yup, that's my excuse.